Card for holding buttons



Dec. 19, 1933. T. E. BARNES CARD FOR HOLDING BUTTONS Filed MaIfCh 5, 1935 linnentor,

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Patented Dec. 19, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD FOR HOLDING BUTTONS Thomas E. Barnes, Utica, N. Y.

Application March 6, 1933. Serial No. 659,600

Claims.' (Cl. 20G-'19) This invention relates to improvements in sample cards designed for displaying buttons, and the like, which may be applied to the cards and held in orderly arrangement thereon Without g sewing, use of clips or clamping devices.

The object of the invention is to provide a substantially flat single-ply body or blank which may be made of relatively heavy pliable paper, card or tag board, that requires no special stiffening means, the said body being crimped and plaited at regular intervals in its length, and the crimps being folded upon one side of the body to provide upwardly facing flat ribs that lie in a common plane parallel to the normal plane of the body, and forming transverse channels or ways having open ends in which the buttons may be slid during the loading and unloading of the cards. These plaited cards may be arranged in series of different lengths and breadths, the channels aczo cordingly being of different length, breadth and depth, for accommodating and displaying buttons of varying sizes. Each card, for example, may be formed with four of the folded plaits or ribs for providing three channels containing four butz5 tons each, and wherein the facing margins of the plaits that define the said channel present relatively stiff though slightly compressible abutments which frictionally engage and grip the opposite circumferential edges of the buttons in such manner that the whole area of the face of each button and particularly its peripheral margin may be observed and inspected by buyers at a glance; the folds of said plaits may be cemented -to the adjacent portions of the body or else secured by staples or other clinching means, in order to prevent distortion of the plaits and consequent loosening and escape of the buttons. A further object isto provides. display card of this classwhich is'soarrangedthatthebuttonsmay 40 be applied to and removed from the ways at will, v by simply sliding them towards either of their open ends, or the buttons may be snapped in between the adjacent plaits. And a further object is to provide a transparent sheath, like cellophane, that envelops the whole card and protects the buttons from dust or other fouling, and at the same time enables the buyers to handle the Acards and inspect the buttons, to determine whether or notthey are perfect, without removing the cellophane or other wrapping.

I attain these objects by .the means set forth in the detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- 'Figure 1 is a top plan view of a complete sample card with its load of buttons. Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the blank from which the card is made prior to the plaiting of the same. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the 60 plaited card without the buttons, said view being substantially a projection upwardly from Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the card shown in Fig. 4. And Fig. 6 is an enlarged broken vertical longitudinal section also on line 2--2 of Fig. 1, 65 showing the construction that enables the buttons to be snapped into the channels.

In the drawing, '2 represents the body of the sample card, which at the start, preferably comprises a relatively long plain rectangularA sheet of card board, or the like, which is sufficiently pliable to enable the card to be plaited, as at 3, to provide a number of upwardly facing parallel transverse channels or ways 4, preferably having the same length, breadth and depth, to receive and display a dozen or more of the buttons, as 5. At the start of the construction of the button holder, the blanks 2 from which the cards are made may be passed transversely through a suitable plait'ing machine which rst orimps the so card, as shown at 3 in Fig. 5, and during the same operation said machine may fold the opposite end portions of the blank inwardly upon the main body of the card, as indicated at 2' and 2a, to suitably reinforce the said portions (see Figs. 1 and 5). Following the crimping of the blank, the plaits 3 are subjected to' pressure which neatly and closely folds and attens the crimps 3', as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. This nal folding of the plaits leaves the opposite longitudinal margins 3a of the plaits round, as also shown in Figs. 2 and 8. This latter operation likewise disposes the plaits or ribs 3 substantially parallel, asl shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and the breadth of the channel 4 for each series of cards should 95 correspond substantially to the exact diameter of the buttons (which in the present drawing are known as 22 line buttons) suitable, for example, for underwear and like wearing apparel. In

Vpracticathe buttons are classified according to their diameters reckoned in fortieths of an inch. This calls for separate display cards for the diferent sizes, whose channels 4 must be substantially the same breadth as the diameters of the buttons. The opposite ends of the channels or ways 4 are preferably normally open, as shown in the drawing. By this arrangement, the buttons may be slid from a table into either end of the channels 4 during the loading of the cards. In the instant case. the buttons 5 are preferably 110 slightly thicker at their circumference than the plaits 3, so that it is impossible for any portion of the circumferential edges of the buttons to be overlapped by the plaits and thereby hide possible defects or imperfections in said edges. By this construction and arrangement, the circumferential edges of the buttons, Whether the latter are slipped along the ways or sockets 4 or simply snapped into place, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, owing to the natural compressibility of the fibrous ribs, are preferably slightly sunk or embedded, as at 3x, in the rolled margins 3a, whose grip on said edges is sufficiently strong to prevent the accidental escape of the buttons in case the cards are inverted, jarred, or otherwise handled. The areas of the reinforcing folds 2' and 2a are reserved respectively for printing the names and addresses of the manufacturers and the standard gauge or classification of the buttons carried by the sample card, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Obviously, the whole sample card 2 may be sheathed in cellophane or other transparent material 6 (a fragment being shown in Fig. l), which not only permits the buttons to be inspected but preserves them from dust or other fouling and also prevents derangement or escape of the buttons when the cards are being handled or shipped. And the cards 2 may consist of laminations or be molded from papier mch (not shown) without departing from the spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim, is I 1. A button holding card formed with parallel upwardly facing ribs to provide transverse channels each adapted to receive a plurality of buttons having diameters substantially equal to the breadth of the channels, and the facing margins of the channels being compressible to such extent as to expose the entire top face of the buttons.

2. A card for holding buttons formed on one face with parallel integral ribs to provide a number ofv channels each adapted to receive a plurality of buttons, the facing margins of the opposing ribs being compressible to such extent as to enable buttons having diameters substantially equal to the span of the channels to be so applied to the channels as to expose the entire top face of the buttons.

3. A card for displaying buttons and the like formed with plaited parallel integral ribs to pro'- vide similar ways each adapted to receive a plurality of buttons, the spacing of the ribs coinciding with the diameters of the buttons, and the margins of the opposing ribs making point contact with theperipheries of the buttons in order to expose their entire tcp faces.

4. A button holding card formed with plaited parallel ribs to provide upwardly facing transverse channels each adapted to receive a plurality of buttons, the facing margins of the opposing plaits being round and compressible to such extent as to enable buttons having diameters substantially equal to the breadth of the channels to be snapped into the displaying position and expose the entire top face of the buttons.

5. A display card for buttons and the like having its opposite end portion folded upon itself to reinforce the portions, and having the space 105 between said end portion formed with a plurality of equidistantly spaced folded plaits to provide similar transverse Ways, the clear breadth of said 4ways being substantially equal to the common diameters of the buttons, and the facing 110 margins of said plaits adapted to be suiciently compressed by the forcible application of the buttons to the ways to grip and frictionally hold the buttons in the displaying positions.

THOMAS E. BARNES.

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